Love and Lockdown
by Banana Kisses
Summary: Alex Sawyer had given up hope of ever being happy again. What happens when his old crush, Diana Wilkes, gets sent to furnace? Why is she there? More importantly, what are a Furnace's real plans? They've never needed girls... until now.


**Chapter 1: Diana**

-"Diana Wilkes. Prisoner 3486789. Cell number F11, sixth level. Cellmate Alex Sawyer." Warden Cross shouted. He was so creepy, with his angular face and his skin. Honestly, it looks more like leather than actual skin and I couldn't meet his eyes. Seriously. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't focus on them. I always found myself looking somewhere else.

I turned my head. I couldn't believe it. I had missed him horribly since he got sent away. I forgot he was even here. I mean, it's been a few years since I've seen him but recognized him right away. He hesitantly made it out of the crowd, walking towards me. He looked nervous. Heck, I'd be nervous too if I was the first guy to get a girl as a cellmate.

For the first time, Furnace Penitentiary, the hell on earth, admitted girls. Before, all girls under eighteen who committed a crime had the good fortune of being sent to juvie. Worst case scenario, serve a couple of years in jail, but now underage offenders are sent to Furnace. We don't even have to commit murder anymore, all it takes is a little robbery or a little vandalism and you're sent straight to hell. I was part of the first group of girls to ever set foot in Furnace, a fact that I am not very proud of.

-"Remember everyone, obedience is the difference between life, death and all other forms of existence here in Furnace. Also, since we have some, um, new female comrades there is to be no funny business. Any sexual interaction at all will result in three weeks in Solitary. As you all know, there is no one who has been able to survive that long, so I suggest that you keep your hands to yourselves."

As the warden goes on, I think about what a stupid idea it is, having a prison with both boys and girls. I mean, especially with so many psychopaths. You're practically telling everyone to rape and kill each other.

-"Beneath heaven is hell, and beneath hell is Furnace. Remember that children."

Once the warden goes back through the vault with his dogs and blacksuits, (those are the ugliest dogs I have ever seen) I go and try to find my cell. I know I should be scared out of my wits, but panicking won't get me anywhere except in a hole six feet under. Once I found cell F11, I had the good fortune of seeing him there lying on his bunk. God, he looked so different than I remember. Years ago, I always thought he was cute, but now he just looks so... hot. Just looking at him seemed to repel the darkness, the fear, the impeding threats of my own demise. He was like a ray of sunshine in a thunderstorm. If we were anywhere other than here I would have thrown myself on him in a heartbeat, but then I remembered the warden's threat. That guy just gives me creeps. I decided that it'd be better to keep on his good side, whatever that is.

Unfortunately, the cell itself is horrible. It's the size of a garden shed and has nothing but tiny metal bunk beds and a toilet in the far corner. I cringed, but I had to get used to the idea of living in this hole for a while. I walk over to him and try to strike up a conversation. I was never really a flirt and I really didn't care much. Now, I would kill just to know what to say.

-"Um.. Hi. You're Alex, right?"

-"Yeah. Welcome to Furnace. Top bunk's yours." He said with indifference. I was confused. I thought he'd recognize me. I was about to go and sulk on my bed when he turned up to look at me for the first time.  
-"Have I met you before? You look familiar..." He looked at me, trying to remember who I was. I don't blame him. I would have a hard time remembering anything if I had to live here for so long. I probably won't last a long time, anyway. I was pretty sure that people were killed here on a daily basis.

-"I'm Diana Wilkes, remember? We used to have 3rd period AP math together. You know, with Mrs. Wilkins?"

His face suddenly brightened.  
-"That's right! I remember now. Sorry, my memory is really fuzzy, after being in here for so long. Oh God, you've... um... really filled out..."

I couldn't help but blush at this. I was surprised he'd noticed. Did he actually...? No. I can't allow myself to even think about those things. No if I wanted us both to stay alive.

-"Pfffft. It's not like you can tell with this ugly uniform. So, anyway, what did you do to get sent here?"

-"You don't remember? I "supposedly" shot my friend Toby when we were robbing a house. When I say "supposedly", I mean that blacksuits killed him and I was framed."

-"You got framed? So did I! My story's pretty much the same except for the fact that we were vandalizing a building and..." My breath suddenly got cut short. I could still see her there, poor innocent Mariah, my dear little sister, lying dead in a pool of her own blood. Killed coldly and ruthlessly by the same monsters that sent me here. The mere thought threatened to strangle me, to bury me alive. A wave of nausea swept through me and the next thing I knew, I was hunched over the toilet throwing my guts up. Alex held my hair out of my face and gently rubbed my back while I wretched. Once I was done he handed me a glass of water that I had no idea was there. At least they keep us hydrated, I thought grimly. Then I started sobbing uncontrollably. I was blubbering about anything I could think of. Anything to forget about that night and how I'm going to die here.

-"Shhhh. It okay, it's okay, it's okay. I'm here. I'll listen to anything you have to say. I promise I'll be there for you. Calm down." He whispered. He was trying to console me but he knew as much as I did that there was nothing that would help. There was nothing we could do.

-"How can you say that? You've been here for years, so you of all people should know that there's no way out, that it's not going to be okay. She's dead and it's all my fault. I promised that if she came came with me I would get that puppy for her. She was so young, only ten years old. She had no idea what we were doing. My little Mariah... my baby sister..." I couldn't bring myself to stop crying.

He took me in his arms and rocked me back and and forth, like a little baby. He was murmuring soft words in my ear. Once I was finally starting starting to calm down, I heard a voice that made me jump. I had never thought that I'd hear that voice again. I thought that I had lost him forever. I watched him leave, knowing he'd never come back. When I turned around, I was face to face with him. I couldn't help it. I flung myself in his arms and hugged him with all my strength.

-"Dannie? Dannie? What are you doing here? Oh god, why? They never admit girls here! I can't believe you got thrown in here... my baby sister... they're gonna pay for this..."

Hearing him call me that again brought a whole new wave of tears to my eyes. I couldn't believe it. My brother, Luke, was here. Alive. I thought he was dead. After he walked out that door, we never knew what happened to him. The night he ran away, we all cried. We never knew why. He just walked out and disappeared without a trace. He was put in here, I realized. That's what happened to him.

He turned around and finally saw Alex. What he did next, I would have never expected.  
He went up to him and slapped him across the face. Hard. "WHO THE HELL ARE YOU!? WHY ON EARTH ARE YOU IN THE SAME CELL AS MY SISTER!? WHY WERE YOU _TOUCHING_ HER!?"

I was dumbfounded. The next thing I knew, Luke took me by the arm and started dragging me away from the cell.


End file.
